“When I heard that Sutherland was looking for help and that she was struggling a little, I wanted to help. I told Mitchell that if she ever needed anything, I’d be there for her.”
“The two of you, there’s nothing romantic—”
“Of course not!”
I pulled away, untangling myself from her body. She reached for me as I slipped off the bed and walked around to where I’d left my pants.
“Hank, I wasn’t serious, I just… you hear rumors about women like Sutherland, women who live alone and take on such a massive burden all on their own. I just wanted to—”
“Do you really think I’d be here if there was something between me and Sutherland? Even just a… a crush?”
“No.”
“Then why would you ask?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’m just not the kind of person who can see the good in everyone. My parents are pretty jaded, you know? Hanging around politicians all the time can do that to you. And some of it rubbed off.”
“I can’t be with someone who doesn’t trust me and makes assumptions at every turn.”
“I know. I wouldn’t want you to be.”
“You’ve got to stop asking me questions like that.”
“I know.”
She looked so sad and so completely exhausted. I dropped my jeans and crawled back into bed with her, drawing her close against my chest once again.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I know.” I kissed her jaw, letting my lips linger near her ear. “Let’s just assume you’re always sorry and I’ll always forgive you so we don’t have to go through this every time we disagree.”
“Okay.”
She laughed a little as I brushed my lips against her earlobe. She ran her hands over my arm and sighed.
“Were you named after your father?”
I groaned. “Why?”
“Hank seems to be the perfect name for a cowhand.”
It was my turn to laugh. “I was named after my father, but my given name isn’t Hank. It’s Arnold.”
“Arnold? How did you get to be called Hank?”
“There’s this series of books that are popular back in Texas. Hank the Cowdog. Someone in middle school thought I resembled him somehow—I always thought it was meant to be an insult, but that’s not the way I took it or the way my friends took it. They all started calling me Hank and it kind of stuck.”
“You do look more like a Hank.”
“I always liked it more than Arnold. Or Arnie. That’s what they called me before they started calling me Hank.”
She shook her head as she giggled against my chest. “No. That’s terrible.”
I laughed, too, pulling her closer to me, loving the way she felt in my arms.
“I just have one more question,” she said, her fingers moving over my ribs, touching the tattoo that lived there. “What is this?”
It said Elizabeth, written in the shape of a heart.
“My mother’s name,” I said, growing sober at the memory. “And Mitchell’s daughter. He asked me what name I would give a child of my own, and it was the first name that came to mind. Maybe because I had only just learned of my mother’s death. He was touched, so that’s the name he suggested to his wife in the last letter he ever sent to her.”
“You were close to your mother?”
“Not as close as I’d have liked. But she was the most important woman in my life for a very long time.”
“And Mitchell’s daughter?”
I sighed, thinking of Elizabeth. “She’s a sweetheart. One of the kindest children I’ve ever known… not that I spend a lot of time with kids.” And then I chuckled a little. “I think she might have a bit of a crush on me.”
“I would be surprised if she didn’t.”
“Would you?”
“You should hear the way my students talk about you. You’ve become this sort of superstar around the high school. All the girls think you’re this romantic figure, and all the boys think you’re some sort of hero to look up to.”
“I doubt that.”
“It’s true. Especially after what you did for Bobby.”
“I wish people wouldn’t talk about that.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s his business and mine. No one else’s.”
“It’s a small town, Hank. Everyone knows everyone else’s business around here.”
“I suppose so.”
I ran my hand down along her hip, my thoughts moving away from our conversation and back to the baser elements. The softness of her skin and the warmth of her body were pulling my thoughts down a road that had been satiated, but not permanently. She moved closer to me, the movement of her hips suggesting her thoughts were beginning to move down the same road as mine.
“We should get some sleep,” I said against her lips.
“I have to be at work in three hours.”
“I should be on the back of a horse in a little less than an hour.”
“Then I don’t suppose there’s any reason to go to sleep now, is there?”
I sighed against her mouth, agreeing that there really was no reason to sleep. Who needed sleep when he had a beautiful woman in his bed?
Chapter 10
Jonnie
I lay my head on my desk, trying not to fall asleep as I waited for my final class of the day to file into the classroom. They were talking at top volume, laughing about a video they’d seen on YouTube this morning, or something. I only caught bits and pieces of their conversation, because even my ears were a little too tired to keep up. There used to be a time when I could stay up all night, take several exams, and then go to a party at the sorority house that night. Not anymore, apparently.
Could you really be too old at twenty-three?
I sat back and studied the faces of my advanced class, four girls and three boys. They were all students who worked hard to achieve advantages that many of the students in this school didn’t even seem to know existed out in the larger world. Most of the kids here would follow in their parents’ footsteps, become land owners or cowhands, run the rodeo circuit or work odd jobs in town. Few of them had aspirations to get out of this tiny town and be something better. But these students… they saw what there was out there in the world. These students were working hard to get scholarships to large universities, to get themselves the education they would require to make a life outside of this small town.
And I was their guide down that road.
“All right, let’s get started. Did everyone write their style papers last night?”
A few groans slipped out, but they all reached into their backpacks and pulled out neatly typed papers. I got up and collected them, pausing beside Justin Karl. He was a senior with three academic scholarships to attend my alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. There was a bruise on the side of his face. It wasn’t unusual to have him show up to class with bruises, but it had been a few months since the last. I’d heard that his father was well known for his violence, especially after he’d been drinking. It was one of those things in a small town that everyone collectively turned their backs on and allowed to continue. I wasn’t from this small town, however. I’d gone to the home and spoke to the mother a few months ago. She promised things would get better. Clearly, she’d lied.
I touched his shoulder. Perhaps I’d have to make another visit to the Karl home.
“Okay. Let’s talk about Welty’s writing style…”
Class progressed quickly; the students kept me engaged enough that my exhaustion backed off for a time. But the moment the bell rang, it was like a weight descended on my shoulders that was too much to be carried. I settled back on my chair and sighed, glancing through the papers they’d just turned in. I couldn’t stop thinking about that bruise on Justin’s face. He was one of my star pupils, the one student who would be the most likely to get out of this town and make something of himself. The thought that his father might ruin all that with his temper fright
ened me. I could control the environment inside my classroom, but there wasn’t much I could do about what happened outside these four walls.
Maybe if I got Hank to go over and talk to Mr. Karl…
“Jonnie?”
For a moment, I thought it was Hank who had stepped out of my thoughts just when I needed him. But it wasn’t. It was a ghost from the past.
It was Paul. My former fiancé.
He smiled, as shock must have been dancing across my face.
“Surprise! I knew I should call first, but then I thought you’d be more likely to see me if I just showed up.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to see you. Is that such a surprise?”
It was, actually. Paul was a good man, but things hadn’t been this polite the last time I saw him. He was heartbroken when I told him I was calling off the engagement. At least, I thought he was. Maybe he wasn’t as heartbroken as I imagined.
I got up and crossed toward him, careful to stop a few feet back, leaving him with his personal space intact.
“You look good, Paul.”
Paul was tall and thin, a blond with brown eyes that were a rich golden color, almost like caramel. To other women, he was probably deeply attractive. To me, he simply reminded me of my father, and the world my parents wanted me to live in. Looking at him made me feel almost as if I were suffocating.
“You’re glowing,” he said, lifting his hand as though he wanted to touch me before it fell slowly to his side again. “This place must be good for you.”
“I like to think so.”
He inclined his head slightly. “I’d like to take you to dinner tonight. Would that be possible?”
I’d rather go home, fall into bed, and sleep for the next fourteen hours. But he’d come a long way and, I figured, I probably owed him this much.
“That would be nice.”
He smiled brightly. “Great. Shall I pick you up at seven?”
“Sounds good.”
He came toward me again, his arms outstretched. I reluctantly moved into his arms, my body stiff as my entire nervous system rejected the familiar, yet wrong, feel of his body pressed against mine. I stepped back as quickly as I could, only to find Hank standing in the doorway, watching me with narrowed eyes.
“Hank—”
He turned and walked away without uttering a single syllable. I wanted to go after him, but Paul stood in my way.
“I never imagined you being attracted to a cowboy before.”
“You never bothered to get to know me well enough to figure out what I might like.”
I regretted the words the second I was done giving them life. But Paul didn’t seem to be offended by them.
“You’re probably right. I thought I already knew who you were before we ever went on our first date. I’m sorry for that.”
I glanced at him, suddenly seeing him in a new light. “Paul, I—”
He touched my arm. “I’ll pick you up at seven. We have a lot to discuss.”
And then he was gone as quickly as he’d appeared.
I went looking for Hank but never found him. Someone told me they’d seen him leave. And I just… I was so tired. I could fix this later.
Chapter 11
At the Ranch
Sutherland walked into the study and stood behind Hank, watching the security camera footage over his shoulders.
“This is from the school?”
“Yes. Kirkland finally got them to release it to him.” He touched the screen. “This is Miss Frakes coming in through the side door. And these are the vandals breaking into the tech room.”
“How did they get into the school?”
Hank reversed the footage, slowing it again as it showed two young men with hoods over their heads coming in through the same door the teacher entered through. They’d simply walked in, their heads turned away from the cameras, like they belonged there. Then he fast forwarded again, showing the two young men breaking the glass in the classroom door. At the same instant, another camera showed the teacher stopping on the stairs and then turning, running back to the parking lot where a camera outside the building caught her making a call—presumably to the police—from the safety of the front seat of her car.
“Do they ever reveal their faces?”
“No,” Hank said, some frustration leaking into his voice. “No faces, no logos on their sweatshirts that might give us a clue, no distinctive movements that might offer us anything. Nothing except the fact that they are both at least five foot ten and fairly muscular, but that could apply to ninety percent of the boys at the school.”
“What about members of the football team? They seem pretty athletic.”
“Again, that’s about ninety percent of the boys at the school.” He glanced back at Sutherland. “All the boys at the high school participate on the football team in one manner or another.”
She shook her head, frustration beginning to show on her face as well. “If we don’t show some progress on this case soon, the school district is going to fire us and go with a security firm in Casper.”
“I know.”
“Is there anything else…?”
Hank shook his head, his eyes studying the security footage for the hundredth time. He was convinced he would see something eventually, but there was only so much a person could get from grainy, silent security footage.
“Kirkland put in new security cameras at the school. Maybe we’ll get a break and they’ll catch these boys doing or saying something that’ll help us identify them.”
“But that would require them vandalizing the school again.”
“Unfortunately.”
Sutherland shook her head. “I’d hate to wish for something bad to happen. But if it helps us solve this case…” She sighed. “Ash would be terribly disappointed if we didn’t succeed with this satellite office of Gray Wolf.”
Hank turned and looked up at her, curiosity obvious in his eyes.
“Why would you agree to do this in the first place?”
She shrugged, stepping back to sit against the front edge of her massive desk. “Because it gives me something else to think about other than the ranch and everything that’s been going wrong lately. Did you know that Sir Olaf never recovered from the colic? Becky thinks we might have to put him down. She thinks the colic caused some sort of rupture… I’m not even sure what it is, but it’s not good. And he’s one of our most valuable horses.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“If anything else goes wrong around here, I think I might start pulling my hair out.”
“That would be a shame. Mitchell always said that was his favorite thing about you.”
She smiled, a little bit of a blush coming to her face, warming the warm colors of her skin just that much more. “Thank you,” she said softly. “Mitchell…” She rubbed the heel of her hand against her cheek. “This place was his legacy for Elizabeth. If he could see the mess we’ve gotten it into…”
“He would understand.”
“I’m not sure he would. He had all this faith in me, but I’ve always felt like I was in far too deep to ever survive.”
“You’re doing a better job than anyone else could have done.”
She shook her head, but she smiled at Hank, reaching for his hands. She held them tight despite the slight shake that emotion had placed there. Hank stood and went to her, sliding an arm around her shoulders.
“Why don’t you let me take you and Elizabeth to dinner tonight? I think you could use a break.”
She looked up, a smile slipping over her full lips. “Elizabeth is staying with a girlfriend tonight. They had some sort of science project they needed to do.”
“Then it’ll just be you and me.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“You’re not asking. I am.” He squeezed her hands. “You need a break, Sutherland. Besides, it’ll give us a chance to really talk. We haven’t done that in a while.”
She
nodded. “All right. But you’ll let me pick the place and pay.”
“What kind of man would I be if I let you pay? But you can pick the place.”
He turned back to the security footage, a heavy sigh pressing down his shoulders. “Maybe a little time off will give us both a new perspective.”
“Perhaps.”
Hank kissed her cheek lightly. “I’ll pick you up in an hour.” He left the room without glancing back. Sutherland watched him go, her chest puffed up with affection and pleasure and a sort of relief that was not new, but would never fully disappear. She’d grown up in foster homes, often ignored and abused, never truly loved. There were a few foster parents who were in it for the love of children, a few who treated her with kindness. But even those who were kind often failed to treat her with the compassion they showed their own children. There was always that sense of being different, that sense of not belonging. It only grew worse as she got older. That was why she chose the military the moment she turned eighteen. She thought that maybe the army would be the one place where she would finally feel as though she belonged.
She had, and she had met wonderful people there. Ash, and Hank, and Kipling and, of course, Mitchell. She pressed her hand to her chest, her thoughts filled with those days, the happiest days of her life. She couldn’t imagine she would ever experience happiness like that again. Mitchell was a once in a lifetime sort of man. Just the way he looked at her… she knew no one would ever look at her that way again.
She’d wanted to die when she’d learned of his death. If it weren’t for Elizabeth, she might have succumbed to her grief. But it had been so important to Mitchell that their child be born, and that she one day inherit the land that had been in his family for so very long. It was that desire that kept her going, that understanding.
Sutherland never had family. She was abandoned in a hardware store when she was just eight months old. It was important to her that Elizabeth have the roots that came with being a Knight and the future owner of MidKnight Ranch. She’d be damned if she lost this ranch before her daughter was old enough to make her own choices.
Hank, Ash, Kipling, and Kirkland were working hard to help her keep this place. They were her family now, and there was no way she was going to let them down.
Gray Wolf Security: Wyoming Page 9
